


Raven X

by InkwellRaven



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-01-23 17:11:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21323740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkwellRaven/pseuds/InkwellRaven
Summary: Prequel 1 of 2 for Ravensong. It started out with chance encounters and banter, flirting to mess with Raven's wild emotions. But the time that he pinned her to the wall and gave in to his desire to kiss her, Red X finds himself entangled with the enchantress of the Teen Tians in ways he never would have expected. And it turns out that he's not the only one that wants her, but he did get there first. But all he brings to her life is danger, and after he tries to leave to protect Raven she finds herself in the arms of another. Is it possible to truly love more than one person?
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Raven, Raven/Red X (DCU)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is the first of 2 prequels to Ravensong. This is the one that is furthest back in time. It covers the first love that broke Raven referred to in Ravensong (and the origins of the ring she wears around her neck) and goes over the first time she had to lead an army. Rated M for lemons a few chapters in. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> (If you're looking for the prequel about her dealings with Speedy, that's the second prequel that will come after this one.)

Raven hit the wall with a thunk and slid down to her feet, leaning back against the wall for support as she found her footing. She glowered up at the skull caricature mask that hid the identity of Red X as he stood on the landing above them. She couldn't see his face but she could _feel_ his smirk and it annoyed her more than she liked. She looked around and saw that Beast Boy was stuck in a mass of goo from an exploding sticky goo X, Starfire was bound by an X of her own and rolling on the floor, her eyes flashing green with rage. She couldn't see Cyborg; he had been thrown into a stack of crates and had yet to emerge. Robin was crouched to her right, bo staff at the ready.

"Man," Beast Boy whined as he tried shifting into different animals but still unable to break free from the tacky substance that held him to the ground. "What _is_ this stuff? Why do I always get the sticky one?"

Robin quickly assessed the situation. Freeing Starfire or Beast Boy would take too much time and allow Red X to escape, as would looking for Cyborg. He turned to Raven and she nodded, ready for his plan. He felt for their bond and used it as he pointed left letting her feel where he wanted her to go. She took his direction and flew at Red X from the left as Robin approached from the right, grateful that their bond could be used in such an effective way.

He bounded up stacks of crates toward Red X as Raven approached from the other side to box him in. Robin dodged an X thrown at him, but Red X anticipated his movement and threw a disk that exploded into a net, entangling Robin before he could reach him. Red X saluted at Raven before she could reach him, grabbing the wooden case he came for and bounding away in the direction that Robin's entanglement had left open for him.

Raven swore, looking down at Robin tangled in a net that seemed to be made of metal cables. He had hit the ground hard but he seemed otherwise unscathed. Furious, but unscathed.

"I'm fine!" he called out as he made eye contact with her. He tried to reach his belt for something to cut himself free. "Get X! I'll be there as soon as I can."

Raven nodded, moving to chase Red X through the warehouse before he could make an escape. She rose up above the crates, dodging between columns of them trying to catch sight of some kind of movement that might give him away. She saw a stack of creates wobble ahead and flew toward it, finally catching sight of him ahead and using her soul self to appear in front of him, blocking his path to the exit he was heading for. He stood in a crouched defensive position as he faced her.

She called her power to her hands and held it there, waiting for Red X to make a move, but he stayed stubbornly where he was, choosing to wait to react to her moves than to go on the offensive. She was hard to read and he wasn't going to lose what he had come to steal because he misjudged her.

He stood when she didn't make a move, setting the box at his feet, tipped his head to the side and crossed his arms looking every bit like he hadn't a care in the world.

She flew at him suddenly, catching him off guard. He had been expecting her to keep her distance and stick with her magic as she usually did, but she came right at him with a flurry of blows. He stood defensively over his box, protecting it while trying to fend her off.

He finally managed to knock her back and she levitated away from him out of arm's reach. She nodded slightly as if affirming something in her head. Red X had the distinct feeling that she was testing him, analyzing him.

"Where'd you learn to fight, Princess?" he asked, impressed and being unable to keep it out of his voice.

"It's been awhile, Red X," she responded. "I've had time to train. And I train with one of the best."

"You mean the Boy Blunder?" he scoffed derisively. "Please. If you ever want to learn some new moves I could help you out there."

His voice had taken on a suggestive tone and Raven didn't miss his implication.

"I've got absolutely nothing to learn from you, X," she taunted, wondering if she could get a rise out of him, "and if you think you're distracting me so you can make your get away you can think again. I'm not letting you get away this time."

"Aww," he said, in his normal, cocky manner, propping one foot onto the box and leaning over his knee toward her nonchalantly. "You miss me already, Sunshine?"

She glared at him. "Do _not_ call me Sunshine."

She saw how he had sacrificed his stance to attempt his carefree mockery of her. She took advantage of the fact and lunged at him again. He was, indeed, caught off guard, but his derision at Robin's fighting prowess was not from unfounded arrogance. He adapted quickly and met her attack. He was quite the fighter himself.

He grappled her momentarily, bringing his masked face uncomfortably close to hers before dropping to the ground and flipping her over him. She had a moment to react and took her opportunity, grabbing the case on her way over it as Red X tossed her over him. She used her momentum to hoist it up and flung it ahead of her as she tumbled in the air. She skidded across the floor and rose to her hands and knees, tracking him with her eyes as she rose to her feet. She was now standing between him and his target. She backed up to it and kicked it further away from him, hearing it thud against the wall behind her.

"You want a different name, then?" he asked, nonplussed by their encounter or his loss of the case. "Or maybe you want a private name for when we're alone like this?" he asked, hoping to get her guard down, his digitized voice somehow growing husky and suggestive. "Something just between us? How about Little Bird? I like the idea of having my own Little Bird."

She scoffed at him and smirked, surprising him, her confidence growing now that she had his prize. If she didn't catch him she'd at least have thwarted his efforts.

"You couldn't handle me," she said wryly, responding to his banter.

She could hear the low chuckle through his mask as he took a step toward her, his interest piqued by her response.

"Is that a challenge, Little Bird?"

"Don't even think about it, Red," she said dangerously, taking an unintended step backward and chastising herself for it internally.

He took another step toward her, emboldened by her minor retreat. "Red, huh? I get nicknames too, then? I could think of more fun ones if you want to try them out. Maybe while we work on those moves I was talking about earlier."

She scoffed at him again, rolling her eyes. His overconfidence really did know no end.

"Don't be stupid," she warned. "I have your prize. It's over. Take your out while you have it."

"Maybe the box isn't the best prize in the room anymore," his eyebrow arched suggestively and the mask mimicked the motion. He took a deliberately slow assessment of her body, looking her up and down and taking another step toward her. "Hmmm," he hummed in approval. He had meant to rattle her but he found himself really liking what he saw.

"Keep pushing me and you won't like what I'll have to do to you," she growled, feeling unnerved by his actions.

"Hmm," he hummed again. "Sounds dirty. Is that a promise?"

He lunged for her, but it was a feint. As she moved to dodge him he threw a sticky X to where she was heading and caught her against the wall with it. She cursed herself. She had just seen him pull this move on Robin and here she was falling victim to the same stunt. She struggled against her bonds as he stepped up to her. He lifted her chin with a gloved finger and lowered his masked eyes to hers.

She looked at his mask with an almost bored expression on her face, though she was furious at herself inside. But she wasn't about to let him know how much it bothered her that he had bested her.

"You don't look too concerned being pinned against the wall in the face of a criminal," he noticed, cocking his head at her.

Raven scoffed. "You're a thief, X. It's not like you're a murderer."

She wasn't wrong. His file in Titans Tower, as large as it was, was only full of crimes of larceny. A criminal he may be, but she certainly wasn't in fear for her life.

"Just because someone hasn't done something in the past doesn't mean they aren't capable of it, Sunshine," he said, a sudden hard edge in his digitized voice now. "Don't forget that."

He kept his finger under her chin and kept her face lifted toward his.

"Or maybe you secretly enjoy it," he mused. "Maybe you have a thing for being pinned to the wall by a villain."

She appeared surprised at his continued implications and he analyzed her face, really looking at it and taking it in, for the first time. He'd never taken the time in all their encounters to notice how pretty the little bird truly was. Maybe he should have been paying more attention sooner. He wondered how far he could push her. He had to admit that he was having more fun than he had thought he would tonight. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"I don't think I've ever realized how beautiful your eyes are before, Little Bird."

A chill ran down her back and she grunted as she tried anew to free herself of the binding X. She couldn't break it and she couldn't escape by teleporting with her soul self without taking him with her. He was too close. And while she hadn't feared that he would hurt her, at least until his veiled threat, she was now more fearful of what her emotions would do if he kept toying with her. And her pride was not ready for her to lose control in front of him after he'd already tricked her.

"Are you scared now, Little Bird?" he asked, noticing her shiver and the increase in the rhythm of her breathing, his masked face inches from hers. "There's a spark in your eyes. It's either fear . . . or I was right and it's passion. So tell me, do you like being so close to me, Little Bird, or are you scared?"

"I am _not_ scared," she bristled, realizing too late the implication he had tricked her into.

"That is _not_ what I m-" He placed a finger against her lips to stop her protest and stepped up to her, pressing his body against hers.

"I think it _is_ what you meant," he purred, running the backs of his fingers down the side of her neck. He watched her breath catch and something about her stirred something within him.

A shiver ran down her spine and she couldn't figure out which of her emotions had caused it. As much as she would never admit it to him a suppressed part of her liked the attention and was causing her breathing to become more rapid and her pulse to quicken.

"Fine, X," she spat, hoping to distract him from his current train of thought, "you rattled me. You win, yet again. Congratulations. Take your prize and go. Next time you won't be so lucky, though. Mark my words."

He raised his hands to his face and pulled up his mask, not completely, still letting it shield his eyes. He leaned in over her shoulder.

"Watch what you say," he whispered in her ear, his voice deep and his breath over her skin sending more shivers down her spine. "You just invited me to take my prize and, like I said earlier, maybe the case isn't the best prize anymore. Maybe it's no longer _my_ prize."

Her eyes widened at the rather blatant implication but before she could voice a cutting response his lips pressed against hers. He was firm, but not forceful, moving his lips slowly against hers as if coaxing her while waiting for her to make her move, curious as to what she would do. Her emotions roiled within her but Lust had been suppressed for far too long and before she could determine what a bad idea it was she found herself giving in and kissing him back.

He hummed in amusement, the sound quickly turning into a groan as she deepened the kiss and he found his tongue wrestling with hers. He pressed her into the wall with his body more firmly, catching his balance with a hand on the wall by her head. His other hand trailed from her shoulder and down her torso, finally gripping her hip as he pulled her as tightly against him as the X pinning her allowed. He didn't know what had come over him. He had only wanted to have a bit of fun with the dark Titan, toy with those infamous volatile emotions of hers. He hadn't expected her to respond like this and he hadn't expected to be drawn in like this. To be enjoying it this much. To be lost in her.

But he could feel desire for her growing as his body pushed against hers and he found himself wishing that she wasn't hindered by the binding X he had thrown. The way she kissed, he now wondered what she was capable of with her hands unrestrained.

They could hear the crates nearby exploding as her emotions ran wild, but they couldn't bring themselves to care enough to break their contact with one another. Something about their physical connection resonated with each of them and it was something neither could explain or put a name to. Something neither of them wanted to stop.

He finally pulled reluctantly away from her as he heard a commotion approaching. The other Titans had extricated themselves from his traps and would be here any moment. He could hear Robin shouting orders to the team as they approached.

He looked down at Raven, panting as he tried to catch his breath. This was not how he thought tonight would go and he was not disappointed in the least by the turn of events. And by the look on her face and the heaving of her chest neither was she. He stroked her face with his thumb before taking a step back and replacing his mask. He turned to go.

"Your case," Raven said, lamely, not sure why she said it. Her brain was just so fuzzy all of a sudden, her body in some sort of weird shock at the loss of contact.

He turned back to her and she could see the mask mimic his eyebrow arching again.

"Not my prize anymore, Little Bird. Remember?" He found that this time he might actually mean it. There was something about her that was drawing him back in.

A button on his belt glowed suddenly.

"Finally charged," he said, looking back to Raven again. "I'll be seeing you soon, Sunshine." The tone of his voice conveyed a promise rather than a parting sentiment and she wasn't sure if she was concerned or excited by it.

The other Titans arrived in time to see him press the button and disappear as he teleported away to safety. They found Raven still pinned to the wall, with the case beside her, looking shell shocked.

"Raven!" Robin cried as he ran to her, using a birdarang to cut through the X and holding onto her as she stumbled. "What happened? Are you okay? What did he do to you? Raven?!"

He shook her when she wouldn't answer and the motion made her blink and finally meet his gaze.

"I'm okay," she assured once she regained some of her senses. "Robin, I'm okay. He just . . ."

She looked off to the spot where he disappeared and her brow furrowed in confusion. What the hell had that been about? And why did she respond the way she did? She touched her lips, still not sure that any of this had actually happened.

"He just what, Raven?" Robin asked, shifting his head into her line of sight and making her focus on him once more.

"He just . . . he . . . _kissed_ me," she breathed, her fingers still on her lower lip.

"He _what_?!" he snarled, his grip tightening on her shoulders. She looked him in the eyes, confusion still written all over her face.

"He – he kissed me. I got the case from him, he pinned me with the X, partially pulled up his mask and . . . he kissed me. He didn't even take the case before he left."

She gestured to the ground beside her and Robin saw the case that Red X had tried to hard to steal from the warehouse just sitting there abandoned on the ground amid the debris from her emotions.

"Why would he do that?" Raven asked when his masked eyes returned to her.

"Come on," he said, helping to steady her on her feet. He could feel how much confusion she had through their bond and he tried his best to keep the emotions he felt off of his face even though his blood was boiling. She was acting strange and it only increased his ire at Red X. "Let's get you home. Cyborg. Make sure that box gets to where it needs to go. See if you can trace where Red X may have been taking it or where he went."

Cyborg nodded and lifted the box and Robin walked out with Raven, guiding her toward his motorcycle, knowing that when her emotions were in turmoil even her teleportion could be affected. He handed her a helmet and asked if she preferred this over attempting to use her powers. She nodded and climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist as the engine roared to life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Raven had been reclusive over the last few days. She hadn't spent any time in the common room, she had taken her meals at odd hours, and she had avoided the rest of her team even more than usual. Not that anyone had really noticed. She did this sometimes, retreating from them and from the world. And the Titans were all busy on their search for Red X.

Robin had returned to the tower with Raven after their last encounter with him, ensuring that she was fine and that she was sure that Red X hadn't crossed the line any further than she had already divulged. His concern was particularly touching to her, but as soon as he was convinced she was okay he had thrown himself into his hunt for Red X. The last few days had been a blur of being sent on leads and monitoring criminal activity in the city for all the Titans as Robin directed the search.

Raven leaned back in her chair, holding a mug of tea in her hands, sighing in relief. This tea shop had her favorite cream earl grey blend and it had been her favorite spot for quite some time. It was small and quiet, and silence was in short supply these days. She had finally managed to escape the tower today without detection, relieved at not having to explain herself and her self imposed seclusion.

She found that lately she did not know what to think.

And that annoyed her.

Their last encounter with Red X had shaken her to her core. The strangeness of his actions was one thing, but what concerned her most was her reaction to it all. She had lost control of one of her suppressed emotions and it had taken the lead. It had practically _taken over_. She hated losing control but losing control usually just meant things breaking and taking flight around her. This was different. This time her loss of control meant she did something she hadn't intended to do; something against her will.

Either that or it _wasn't_ truly against her will and somehow she felt that might be worse.

Her hands clenched around the mug and she stared of out the window. She had spent a lot of time in Nevermore after that night, but her emotions were warring and just being there around it was draining. She hadn't been able to calm either side and now she felt just as confused and equally exhausted.

She pulled her zip up hoodie tighter around herself, nudging the bag under the table with her cloak in it to reassure herself that it was there. She assumed it wouldn't be long before Robin had another lead for her to follow and she would get the call. But she was enjoying this slight respite from being a Titan.

As if on cue, her communicator went off. She rolled her eyes, wishing she had had more time to herself before grabbing it and responding. But it wasn't just a lead. Red X had been spotted at a bio research facility and Robin told the Titans to get there as soon as they could.

Raven abandoned her tea, shouldered her bag, and left the tea shop. She turned into an alley using her powers to phase out of her civilian clothes to reveal the familiar leotard underneath and donning her cloak.

She flew to the facility, flashing alarm lights leading her way. She could see Starfire's silhouette in the sky approaching as well and headlights racing toward the building that she assumed was the T car and Robin's motorcycle.

She entered the facility, hoping to do some recon as the others arrived. She was determined to fight Red X, no matter what may have happened the last time. Though she may have enjoyed what she had felt when he had kissed her, she couldn't ignore the fact that she was a Titan, he was a thief, and she didn't know the first thing about him.

The message came through her communicator that the others had arrived. She told them she was inside and would cover the top floor down. They claimed their floors, were given the command to be careful and to alert the others as soon as Red X was found, and set out.

It didn't take long.

Raven heard the explosion below before Cyborg called out to announce that he had spotted Red X on the third floor. Raven phased through the floor and arrived in time to see Red X dodge a blast from Cyborg's sonic cannon. Something in her fluttered at seeing him and she gritted her teeth in anger and determination against it. She shielded Cyborg from Red X's next attack and when Red X saw her black magic his head snapped up, looking around frenziedly until he spotted her.

He stared at her, his expression hidden by his mask, but her breathing quickened nonetheless. The mask mimicked the motion of his eyes narrowing as he focused intently on her. She hadn't been sure whether his weird fixation with her would continue the next time they met, but as the others arrived and the fight continued, she kept noticing him find the time to turn toward her, eyes narrowed in concentration. Watching.

She was unnerved. But half of her emotions were thrilled and she was having trouble keeping that side of her quelled.

She didn't have long to wrestle with her conflicting nature, though. Robin batted away one of Red X's explosive devices, but misdirected where he knocked it. A chunk of the ceiling made an ominous cracking noise as the device hit it and cracks spider-webbed across its surface. Raven had been shielding Beast Boy from falling specimen tanks and didn't hear the sound until too late. A chunk of the ceiling came crashing down on her and she hadn't time to cast a shield or phase through it. She took the blow to the head and fell in a heap on the floor.

Robin glared at Red X with accusation and wild fury before he started to run to her, but Red X stepped ahead of him and gave the hero a vicious blow to the head. He stared down at Robin's unconscious form, surprised at the brutality he had used to take him out. But Robin had been careless and Raven had suffered for it and that had affected him more than he thought it would.

The thief tried to run to her, but Starfire hovered protectively over her and Beast Boy hurried to stand between Red X and Raven as well. Red X dodged to the side suddenly and threw a handful of bladed Xes toward them. While they reacted to them he took the opportunity to throw a small orb and a red electric web shot out to contain both Beast Boy and Starfire in the crackling net, dropping them and making their bodies twitch as they tumbled down the staircase beside them.

He dashed to Cyborg, who was already rushing to Raven's side, bringing the combat close and avoiding the use of the sonic cannon. The flurry of close range blows distracted Cyborg and caused him to take several steps back. Red X hooked one of Cyborg's feet and shoved him hard, causing him to tumble into the cryochamber behind him. The thief slammed the door shut and locked him in before turning and running to the prone Raven.

He cradled her head in his lap and checked it, finding that the knock she had taken was already healing. Her chest rose and fell in a steady manner and he breathed out a sigh of relief, letting out a breath he didn't know had caught. Why he cared what happened to the Titan, he wasn't quite sure, but he was grateful that she seemed alright.

She looked peaceful, like she was just sleeping. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face wondering whether she really was a witch like some of the other villains had claimed. What else could explain his strange behavior around her than him being bespelled? He sat running his fingers through her hair and wondered why he still wasn't leaving since what he had come here to acquire already rested in his pocket. But the realization hit him that he wasn't going to be able to leave in peace without knowing that she would awaken. What was it about her that was doing this to him?

She stirred as he stroked her hair and hummed at the contact. He smiled and ran the back of a finger down her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open and grew wide as she recognized who was with her.

She lashed out with her magic, blasting Red X back but in doing so lost the support of his lap under her head and it made contact with the polished cement floor beneath her. She swore loudly as she scrambled to her feet, holding a hand to her newly ringing head.

Red X regained his footing and stood staring at her, a chuckle escaping him as he admired her feistiness. He stayed his ground, waiting to see what her next move would be. She stared him down as she took a deep breath, her arms held out slightly from her sides. Her power flickered briefly on her hands, but she winced and one hand flew to her head as she closed her eyes and staggered.

Her head was killing her. Possibly literally. Taking two blows had caused damage that hadn't healed yet and trying to call on her powers sent a sharp stab through her skull. She felt dizzy and the world started to tilt around her. She felt herself falling but couldn't sort out which way was which to brace her fall.

She felt arms around her before she hit the floor. She shook her head as she was gently lifted back to where she could get her feet back under her, though they wouldn't take her weight yet. Her vision finally shook off the haze and she could focus on the grinning skull mask before her.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked foggily. "Why are you helping me?"

He stared at her for a time, still supporting her weight in his arms and making no move to release her. He leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I'm honestly not sure, Sunshine," he replied.

"I told you not to call me that," she muttered, pulling herself forcefully from his arms and stumbling back, her legs still shaky. She cradled her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths, feeling her head clear with each one. Her healing was finally catching up.

"Right," he chuckled, low and deep. The sound sent shivers up her spine and not all of them unpleasant. "I forgot, Little Bird."

She regained control of her head and threw tendrils of her magic at him. He dodged them and threw a binding X at her. She barely ducked in time.

"I'm still not your Little Bird," she seethed, her head ringing. She was quickly healing now but using her powers still hurt. "Whatever game you're playing I am not entertained, Red X."

He took a step toward her. She straightened in response, the fog slowly clearing from her head. She was determined to not give in to whatever game he was playing. She would take him out tonight and the war in her head would finally be over.

"I'm not playing any game, Little Bird. I just have a new prize, remember?"

"I'm not your fucking prize, X!" she spat, a vehemence and a tinge of sadness in her eyes. "You don't even know me."

"We could fix that, you know," he purred, taking another step toward her. His voice took on a more serious tone as he continued. "But I _do_ know some things about you, Little Bird. I know enough to know that you're different from all your friends. You're smarter than any of them, your wit is better, you're stronger. You think they'd be better off without you and you don't realize that they wouldn't work without you. You spend so much time worrying about everyone hating you that you can't see how much people truly like being around you."

She stared at him, taking in his words and the confusion only growing in her. He had been watching her. Not only that, but he had taken the time to have insight into her.

"You're also incapable of seeing how beautiful you are," he stated.

She froze for a moment, not so much his words but the conviction behind them that shook her. He said it without insinuation, as if he were simply stating a fact, and it made her hesitate.

He took the opportunity and ran the final few steps toward her, grabbing her by the waist and pushing her into the wall behind her. She grunted as she hit the wall and glared daggers at him. She called her powers to her hands so he grabbed her delicate wrists in his grip before she could hurl her power at him.

He pinned her arms to the wall beside her head and tsked at her.

"So feisty," he murmured. He lifted her arms above her head and held both of her hands there in one of his as he used his other to lift his mask up partway again. She hissed as she realized what he intended to do.

"Azarath, Met-"

It was all she got out before his lips crashed against hers, silencing her spell.

She was furious that she was already kissing him back.

His hand was at the back of her head, tangling in her hair and pulling her deeper into the kiss. He groaned as she arched her back, her chest and hips pressing tantalizingly against him, making him grateful that her body wasn't pinned to the wall this time. He took his chances and released her wrists, his hand sliding down her arms and rubbing his thumb across her breast as his hand traveled down her torso. He slid it behind her and grabbed her ass in his large hand, giving the cheek a squeeze before pulling her hips more tightly against his.

With her wrists free her current reigning emotions wasted no time in wrapping one arm around the back of his neck and allowing the other hand free roam down the tight muscles of his back. He practically purred at her roaming hands and broke their kiss to lean over her shoulder and lay a searing line of kisses and nips down the column of her throat, causing her to moan quietly. He laughed softly in appreciation of the sound and his breath blowing across her skin set her flesh alive with goosebumps.

He covered her lips with his once more and marveled that this was happening again. Whatever it was that had drawn him in last time had drawn him in again and he went along with the tide of it. His body was alight with what felt like an electric current. Being with her was exquisite and all they had done was kiss. He couldn't help his mind wandering to what it would feel like to take things further and he found himself getting flush at the images that flashed in his mind.

She was dizzy with his kisses, still pressed up against the wall by the weight of his body against hers when the sound of the approaching Titans from the floor below interrupted once again. Debris from her untamed emotions lay scattered around her and Red X but they hadn't even heard the equipment breaking. They had been too tangled in each other and the world around them had gone unnoticed until they parted. Red X pulled back, his breath heaving and his need for her evident in the hardness pressed against her thigh.

"Until next time, Little Bird," he panted, giving her one final kiss, this one soft and gentle and unnerving her far more than the passion fueled kisses he had given her earlier. He pulled back, replaced his mask, and stared at her for a moment before activating his belt and disappearing.

"Well, shit," she swore when she finally caught her breath, preparing to face Starfire and Beast Boy as they emerged from the staircase. That was not how the night was supposed to go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The alarm blared throughout the tower bringing everyone to alert. Most of the team clamored from their rooms to gather before the comm screen and find out what they were up against this time. Raven, however, set her book in her lap and sat in her room for a moment before doing the same. She had to collect herself, calm herself down, before joining the others. Her emotions were getting out of hand lately. Her excitement fought with her guilt and it took long moments before she was able to reconcile the two.

Robin turned as she finally entered the room and the others were already preparing to head out.

"Red X," he said as he approached her, Cyborg at his side. "Call came in from the museum downtown. We don't have much time. Are you okay with taking two of us?"

She nodded and reached out to touch both of them on the shoulder, engulfing them both in her soul self. She could only take the two that far of a distance, even taking two halfway across town taxed her more than she liked. The others would fly but they all needed to get to the museum as fast as they could to catch Red X and Robin and Cyborg needed Raven to get them there. Beast Boy and Starfire would be there shortly after.

A nervous concern flowed through Raven's bond with Robin as her soul self dissipated and left them in the foyer of the museum, the alarm screaming around them. Raven closed her eyes and sent out tendrils of her power and silenced the alarm.

"I hate those things," she sighed as she opened her eyes and found that same concern still pulsing through their bond as Robin's eyes met hers.

"I'm fine, Robin," she assured, trying to send reassuring feelings through the bond while keeping to herself the ones that were making her stomach flip. As well as the guilt that she felt about putting them in danger again just for a chance to . . .

"He's taken us all out the last few times we've run across him," he said, reaching for her shoulder and interrupting her train of thought. "He's been acting weird lately, especially around you, and I think that he's trying to mess with your emotions. Keep your guard up. He's been unusually active and I can't help but feel like he's up to something . . . bigger. I want you to stay safe."

The feelings through the bond were shifting but Robin squeezed her shoulder and cut off the tie before she could figure out what he was feeling. She simply nodded and they turned to Cyborg who was analyzing the security grid.

"Third floor," he said, readying his sonic cannon.

Beast Boy and Starfire flew in the entrance behind them and Robin looked at all of them before nodding.

"Titans, go!"

The glass cases on the third floor were still intact but the precious royal jewels – from some ancient civilization whose name they hadn't taken the time to read from the report – were missing from their stands. They fanned out to find Red X. The other set of jewels from the rival civilization were on the other side of the room. Their museum contact said that the jewels were worth infinitely more all together. It was the best lead they had for where he was going next. Red X was never one to leave a job half done if it meant a better payday for the extra effort. At least _that_ they knew about him and felt they could count on.

The elevators disabled themselves once the alarm went off and they had Beast Boy manning the staircase going down and Starfire the one leading up. He was here somewhere on this floor – they could see the other set of jewels safely in their case across the room – they just had to find him. They kept quiet in case Red X used the teleportation capabilities of his belt. Robin said he knew the sound of the belt activating. Their footsteps echoed strangely in the silence. The silence didn't last long.

"Oh, come _on_!" they heard Beast Boy shout from below, followed by several different beast noises straining one after the other. Robin turned back to the staircase fearing that Red X was now on the second floor, calling for Raven and Cyborg to stay and keep an eye on the case.

A blur practically flew from above down the staircase followed closely by Starfire, shooting starbolts from her hands. Robin was practically bowled over by the two but quickly regained his footing and pursued Red X as he approached Cyborg, Raven, and the second case of jewels.

They could hear his chuckle as he dodged their attacks. He threw an X at Cyborg, causing him to roll away from Raven and right into the path of one of Robin's exploding disks. He was blown some distance away as Red X continued approaching the jewel case. He tossed an X at Raven that split in two and became a bola. It wrapped around her ankles mid stride and caused her to tumble to the ground.

"Need you to stay put, Little Bird," he whispered as he passed, a starbolt exploding beside him. He changed his course away from Raven and the case and toward a room to the side, slightly down the hall to the next wing, that held priceless originals of scrolls from the civilizations on display. Raven struggled to free herself as the others regrouped and followed Red X.

They were only in the room for moments before Red X bolted out of the room backward, throwing bladed X's into the room and breaking display cases causing new alarms to start screaming and bars to descend from the top of the doorway. Red X stepped up to the door and placed two disks on the floor, activating them to position a glowing red wall of light directly in front of the bars and a crackling wall of electricity directly through the bars themselves.

Starfire and Cyborg both cried out in their individual attempts to break the bars, Cyborg sparking as he shorted out and falling to the ground. The electricity arcing over the bars like lightning even repelled Starfire's starbolts. Robin realized that they had played right into Red X's trap. He had been prepared for this exact scenario . . . which Robin realized was strange. The first jewel case was unbroken and there was no need for Red X to have set off the alarm before reaching the second set of jewels. And he had come up with a perfect trap for them once they got here. Something else was going on and now Raven was forced to fight him alone. Again.

Raven could hear Robin swear as she finally managed to free herself from the X wrapped around her ankles. She could hear Beast Boy grumbling about why it always had to be a sticky X with him from somewhere downstairs and a glance was all it took to know that it would be some time before the rest of her team would be able to extricate themselves from their tidy trap. She threw the bola X away from her in disgust and could hear footsteps approaching. She rose to her feet, turning to face him.

He stopped several paces from her, not even looking at her but admiring a map of the two civilizations mounted on the wall. He traced the details with his finger, as if admiring the intricacy.

"Gonna steal the map, too, Carmen Sandiego?" she asked wryly.

"A connoisseur of history and the arts can't admire a historic piece anymore?" he asked.

"So you're a connoisseur now? Funny, I thought you were just a thief."

"I'm not _just_ anything, dear Raven. I would have thought you'd come to know that by now."

She stared at him for a moment, both to try to read him _and_ to calm her emotions.

"I take it saving me for last wasn't a coincidence," she quipped quietly, crossing her arms over her chest in an almost childish gesture of putting a barrier between them. Trading quips wasn't going to calm the war in her. It always led to trouble between them and a change in tactics was due. "What did you do to him? Cyborg?" She gestured toward the room her friends were trapped in with her head.

Red X threw a bladed X at her without warning, causing her to throw herself out of the way, away from the jewels and the map and farther into the large display room. He followed her, now out of line of sight of the doorway of the Titans' trap. He could hear Robin calling out for her now that he couldn't see her.

"Don't worry Sunshine. Metal man will take a while to reboot but he'll be fine. Enough shock to get him to take a little nap is all. Hurting them wouldn't exactly make you happy with me now would it?"

Raven planted her feet and glowered at him, her emotions already fighting over what to say next.

"Can we just get this over with?" she managed to spit out. "Witty banter meets shady innuendos, we fight, you weasel your way out and escape, Robin freaks out and attempts to track you, and I pretend to listen to Robin lecture me for letting you get away before I get to go back to my room with a book and a cup of tea. Or can we just skip it? You want to hand over those jewels you stole and disappear? Save me the trouble?"

He pushed the button on his belt and disappeared.

She stood in shock for moment before she felt her arms pinned to her sides from behind and his breath in her ear indicating that he had lifted his mask to reveal the lower half of his face.

"You forgot the part where our lips unavoidably meet and we can't keep our hands off each other," he whispered in her ear, his tongue darting out to graze her earlobe. "The part of these heists I look forward to the most these days."

"I take it that's a no to just skipping it," she breathed, taken aback for a moment, wishing her emotions would stop the all out civil war that was going on in her head.

"Is that what you really want, Little Bird?" he murmured, setting her nerves on edge as his breath caressed her skin with every word. His thumbs rubbed against her arms in small circles, her skin erupting in gooseflesh. "Have our encounters really meant so little to you? Because I haven't been able to think about anything else since that first night. And those dirty and delectable thoughts only get harder to ignore after every encounter, little one."

He held her against him with one arm as his other hand removed the bag of jewels from his belt and jingled them before dropping them at her feet, spilling the priceless artifacts on the floor.

"I'm running out of jobs to pull to get near you. I even had to run this ruse of a theft to get you in the same room with me. Had to create this one myself with no actual buyer. Really, Little Bird? Jewels? That is _so_ beneath me. I don't care about them and I think you know that. It's not the jewels I was after or I would have already had both sets." He paused before letting out a low laugh. "_And_ the map, for that matter."

He pulled her tighter to him and she could feel his strong chest at her back. She could hear him take a long smell of her hair.

"But I've had a new prize for quite some time now, remember? Something far better."

Her eyes fluttered shut subconsciously as he kissed her behind the ear and laid a trail of slow, intimate kisses down the side of her neck until he reached the junction of her neck and shoulder. He held her against him with both arms once more, his grip vice-like as if he feared letting her slip away.

Raven shook herself from her momentary submission to her feelings and jerked her arms, trying to break out of his grasp, but he knew it was half-hearted. She was physically stronger than the effort she was currently putting forth. She was fully capable of breaking free from his grasp but he believed part of her was enjoying what he was doing and didn't want to break free.

And he wasn't wrong. Raven's emotions were still warring, an almost literal line drawn in the sand between the two factions of her emotions, but Lust was angry and wanted her chance to be heard. The last few encounters with Red X had emboldened her and tonight was no different. Lust took the lead from the other emotions – including Loyalty who was outraged at the treatment of her team – with Joy and Courage at her side, and coaxed Raven to give in and succumb to the pleasure of the encounter.

Raven ever so slightly tipped her head to the side in response, exposing more of her neck to Red X and he hummed in approval.

Raven snapped back to reality when she heard Robin screaming her name again from his current prison. He was calling for her to respond, to make sure she was okay. She was about to shout back when she felt Red X's grip tighten on her arms and heard him growl above her shoulder. There was something primal and possessive about it and she found it excited her.

Which annoyed her.

She felt a strange sensation and the world constricted and spun around her. It took her a few moments after her vision returned to normal to realize that she was no longer in the museum, but rather on its roof. He had used his belt to transport them both there.

"I thought maybe seclusion away from your friends was best, no?" He asked, releasing his hold on her arms and turning her to face him, a coy smirk tweaking up a corner of his mouth. He lay his hands on her hips and pulled her against him. "Maybe it will take them a while to find us this time. And maybe you won't have the chance to break something priceless again when I do this."

He pressed his lips against hers in a fleeting, slow, tease of a kiss that only encouraged the butterflies in her stomach to flutter all the more. He pressed his forehead against hers and took another deep breath as if trying to take in the very essence of her scent.

"What do you want?" she asked, pulling her face away from his, her eyes pleading. Her emotions were wreaking havoc in Nevermore more than ever and she couldn't sort anything out. He always did this to her and she hated being so out of control. She was so tired.

"I should think that was obvious," he murmured against her lips, his barely touching hers but causing her breath to quicken nonetheless. He could feel the swell of her chest rise and fall with each breath as it was pressed up against his and it did nothing to quell his desire.

It took everything in her to take a step back, even though more than one emotion in Nevermore was on Lust's side calling for her not to move away. "I'm serious," she whispered. He took a step forward to be pressed up against her again, his hands running up and down her arms and it felt so right that she couldn't bring herself to take another step away, finding herself leaning into him even though she hadn't intended to do it.

"I mean, there's banter between adversaries," she continued shakily, "there's cocky mockery between opponents and empty flirting and then there's . . . then there's this." She stood on her toes to press her lips fiercely to his and he sighed as she did, gripping her arms tightly and holding her to him. Part of him had been fearing that she was trying to rationalize staying away from him, and being away from her was the last thing that he wanted.

This was their third encounter since their first kiss and, he was right, it always ended like this, with their bodies pressed against each other and their lips locked together in passion. They were drawn to each other like magnets and couldn't resist the pull to one another, only parting when the rest of her team inevitably came barging toward them.

Raven had told Robin of the first kiss, mostly out of shock and confusion from the whole incident, but she had kept the more confusing elements of her last two encounters with Red X to herself. Robin had been strangely perturbed after the first time Red X had kissed her and although part of her had been beside herself with hope at his concern over her, another part of her hadn't wanted to disturb him like that again when it happened the next time. Or the next.

She wasn't quite sure when it had happened but she had come to the realization that she had loved Robin for some time now. She had never acted on it, never even revealed her feelings to anyone, and he had never shown any indication he felt the same. But he had gotten so _angry_ when Red X had kissed her the first time and part of her couldn't help hoping that it meant some kind of reciprocal feeling for her.

But he had buried that anger once he had gotten her back to the tower and made sure that she was okay after the whole incident. And ever since then things had been as they always were, except his renewed fervor in his search for Red X. Raven assumed his anger that night had been because the man that had managed to best him and steal the Red X suit from him was now toying with his team and nothing more than that. Though, she admitted, she could never be truly sure of Robin's feelings. He was good at keeping those cards close to his chest and she refused to use their bond to violate his privacy and find out for herself. She wouldn't let herself go that far. She would never forgive him if he did it to her.

Besides, _she_ wasn't even sure how she felt about this whole mess herself – either about Robin _or_ Red X – besides knowing that her stomach turned to knots whenever the Titan alarm went off, part of her hoping that it would be Red X causing it and part of her dreading it. She wasn't sure what name to put to what she had with the thief, but she felt more alive with him than she could ever remember feeling with _anyone_ else and that was not something to be ignored for her.

The second time they met, when they fought in that medical research facility, hadn't been any less confusing or powerful for her emotions than the first encounter. Robin had questioned her about the damage – damage her emotions had caused while Red X's lips were on her – which she blamed on her unfocused emotions as she regained consciousness, and he had taken off after his nemesis. Raven's heart had stung a bit at his sudden switch in attention from her well being to his adversary, but too many of her emotions were reeling from their second encounter with the thief for her to dwell on the pain for long.

The next time they met, an attempt to steal some kind of experimental device from a tech company just outside of town, she had fought him hard, determined to succeed where she had so far failed. She fought him as if he were any other criminal but nothing that she did – no low blows, no scathing words that she spat, no attack – deterred him from trying to get close to her. Finally _she_ had managed to subdue _him_, physically sitting on top of him as his head reeled from the last blow she had given to it. She had been determined to catch him and turn him in this time, hoping that it would help her sort through her confusion with him safely behind bars.

But even as she reached for her communicator to call in his capture he had shifted her hips while she was atop him, putting her off balance. He pulled himself up from his position lying on the ground beneath her, pulled up his mask to the bridge of his nose, and had found her lips with his. She dropped the communicator as soon as his lips met hers and she had been lost to the moment with him.

Just as she was lost now on the roof of the museum.

His hands slid down to cup her ass as he pulled her body up against his. She moaned into his mouth as she pulled him more tightly against her as if desperate to stay as tightly connected with him as possible. And he responded with the same ardor and want. They spent a seemingly impossible amount of time in each others arms clinging to each other for dear life, their lips practically bruising against each other. She could hear the twisting sound of metal screeching from whatever her powers had grabbed hold of on the roof, but she couldn't bring herself to care. He removed her cloak as their hands roamed over each other's bodies in heated exploration, neither able to pull the other close enough to satisfy their desire for one another.

He moved his hand to the back of her thigh and slid it down to her knee, lifting her leg up over his hip. His hand crept back up her thigh oh so slowly in an agonizing tease. He traced fire on her flesh and she found her need for him growing in the pit of her stomach, her arousal spooling up inside her. His fingers brushed against the core of her and she cried out at the same time as her powers ripped something from the rooftop and flung it into the night.

He hummed, partly in amusement and partly from his growing arousal as his fingers continued to burn through her as they moved. He had wondered at what would happen if they went further and now, hearing the delicious noises that she could make as he stroked a feather light touch over the most sensitive parts of her, he wasn't sure he would be able to stop, even if the Titans _did_ escape to assist her.

She was out of breath and feverish to the touch, coming down from a euphoric high, when the sound of the approaching Titans could be heard heading to the roof. She pulled back from Red X even though every fiber of her her being wanted more of what he could give.

"You have to go," she whispered, her voice hoarse and husky. "You have to go before they find you."

He stared at her for what felt like long minutes before he nodded.

"Don't get this wrong," he murmured darkly. "I'm coming back for you, Little Bird. This is not the end."

It came out as a low guttural grumble and it sounded like a threat. But before she could determine if it was a threat or a promise he descended on her for one more intense, searing kiss before he pulled away with what seemed to take great effort. He used his belt and was gone.

The Titans found her alone on the roof almost half an hour after they had been trapped. They were more concerned about what had happened to her than they were about Red X and his whereabouts, she had looked that ragged. But the debris on the roof clearly indicated an all out fight to them and her exhaustion made sense. She couldn't help but wonder what they would think if they knew the real reason for the debris on the roof.

Robin was insistent that he take her home so she could calm herself and tell them what happened but she brushed him off, shaking. She simply told them that she had to meditate, grabbed her cloak, and used her soul self to teleport home.


	4. Chapter 4

Red X laid the cash in neat rows in the safe – the payment for his latest job – and closed the door gently to avoid jostling the vials of Xenothium that lay within, checking the latch to make sure it locked. He closed the panel in the wall that hid the safe from prying eyes. He turned and looked at his Red X suit where he left it laid out across the bed. He stood staring at it for several minutes. He had pulled off the job without a hitch; no security problems, no cops . . . and no Titans.

It had been two weeks since he had last seen Raven on the museum rooftop and the time away from her was affecting him more than he had liked or anticipated. He still hadn't worked out what it was about her or what, exactly, they had between them. All he knew was that he needed more.

He shook his head and put the suit away in its black bag before pulling back the curtains and staring out over the city. The night was still young, and he decided to go out, grabbing his keys and carefully locking the door behind him.

A successful job usually brought a unique sense of satisfaction, but all the could feel was restless. He had been hoping for her to be there tonight. She made every nerve awake, alive, and active, but simultaneously brought a sense of calm to every fiber of his being and he had never felt that before. Now he craved it. He had even stopped having the crippling nightmares that usually haunted his sleeping hours and he knew that, somehow, she was the reason. He needed to distract himself from the fact that he had not gotten the relief of her presence for weeks now, despite his unusual amounts of heists hoping for her appearance. He was even starting to have the nightmares again and he needed to find something to make him feel the way she did. At least a shadow of it.

He found himself at a bar that he favored, not a dive but also not a club. He liked the laid back atmosphere, and the dance floor and good taste in djs usually brought a healthy choice of pretty girls with enough wit to hold at least a superficial conversation with.

The bouncer at the door nodded to him, knowing him well and being companionable with him, allowing him to pass without paying cover and Red X's civilian persona gave him a cocky salute and a pat on the shoulder as he passed. He headed to the bar, ordered his beer and scanned the crowd over his glass. He wasn't even halfway through his beer when he noticed two women at the tall, circular table nearby sitting next to each other and staring at him. He turned back to the bar, smirking, and placed his soon empty glass on the bar, ordering a bourbon in its place. He could see them out of his periphery and could see they were still staring at him and giggling to one another. He smirked as he kept his body angled to the bar. Maybe he'd get a release tonight after all.

He waited several minutes after he had gotten his drink before he turned back toward them again. He finally made eye contact and one of them waved at him. He smirked at her, grabbed his drink, and headed in their direction.

He stood opposite of the table from the blonde that kept giving him bedroom eyes and the woman with hair almost dark enough to rival Raven's. They flirted, they talked about music and the like and each woman started to get more competitive about who would be leaving with him. Two more bourbons later Red X found himself walking out of the doors, patting his friend at the door on the shoulder again on his way out, and heading down the street alone.

His thoughts wandered back to inside the bar. He had been trying to decide which woman was the better mark when he excused himself to the bathroom. On his way down the hall that led back to the bar he found the petite one with the dark hair waiting for him. She had pushed him against the wall and kissed him. Red X closed his eyes let go of his inhibitions, grabbing her waist and pulling her more firmly against him. But after several minutes he pushed her away and stammered an excuse about having to go. And now here he was walking through the cool evening, not minding where his feet were taking him, analyzing the evening and trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

Flirting with those girls had not been as fun as normal. He was charismatic, he was charming, and he was more than good looking. He wasn't being conceited, it was the truth, and it was a fact that he used to his advantage often. Both of those women had twittered and found reasons to touch his arm or his hand, all as usual. But he found himself wanting more.

They had spoken of superficial things, despite a few of his attempts to steer the conversation into deeper subject matter – or at least to the subject of _good_ music but even there he had been disappointed – and he found himself, more than once, betting that Raven could hold a better conversation with more wit mid battle than these women could on their best of days.

And then the one that physically reminded him of Raven had kissed him and he tried to lose himself in their similarities. She was small like Raven, dark of hair, fiery . . . all things he had assumed he could get lost in. But where everything about his time with Raven was hyper focused – fire that burned without consuming him, electricity that jolted through him and woke ever part of him without making him tense – things with this girl were dulled and unsatisfying. It wasn't what he needed and certainly wasn't what he _wanted_ and he'd found himself needing to get away from her altogether. If possible, he was more frustrated than he was before he left his condo and he was at a loss on what to do about it.

He reached a small park and recognized it, realizing that he had walked to the edge of the bay. Standing over the water on an island right before him and standing on it, keeping watch over the city, was Titans Tower. Even his subconscious was drawing him inevitably closer to her. He thought on the idiocy of the plan that suddenly bloomed in his mind. It only took a minute of wrestling with the consequences and complications before he turned and ran back for his Red X suit.

It wasn't much later that he was perched on a beam under the bridge the crossed the bay near the tower, using his tech to analyze the tower's security measures. There was a scanner that surrounded the tower that was meant to alert them to an outside presence. It was wide enough in its radius to prevent the technology of the Red X belt that Robin had built from teleporting to the tower without setting off the alarms. One would have to teleport from the edge of the shield and would barely make it onto the island proper, and would set off all the alarms in the process.

Luckily for Red X, he hadn't been able to resist the temptation to tinker with the belt and he had extended the distance that he could go with a single jump. Far enough that he could pop into the tower itself, which was not warded so the very woman he was risking this for could teleport in and out without setting off security every time.

He appeared on the roof of the tower, knowing it was safe from the shield since he'd seen the empath do it before, deciding he'd be less likely to appear in front of a Titan that way than if he appeared in the building proper. But no sooner than he had appeared he heard the door to the rooftop open. He dove behind a storage shed nearby and he could swear his blood rushed so hard that he could feel it in every capillary when he saw that it was none other than the Titan he had come to see. Not even kissing that other woman had made him feel what he felt just by _seeing_ Raven.

She looked weary, carrying herself like one about to drop with exhaustion, limping slightly as she favored her right leg. She held her hand over her forehead, thumb and forefinger at her temples as she groaned. She stood at the edge of the roof and sat down, crossing her legs and looking out over the lit up cityscape. She began to float in the air and Red X could hear her chanting softly. He wanted her, he _needed_ her, but _she_ needed her meditation; he knew that from his extensive research on each Titan. He was surprised by his altruism, his consideration for her needs, but as much as he wanted to stalk over to her and take her in his arms he knew that she would be better off after her meditation. And the edge of the tension that had been building in him was already being relieved just by being in her presence so he sat in the shadow of the shed and watched the moonlight dance on her skin as she hovered, trying to figure out how long he should let her meditate before he would be unable to help himself.

He heard the door open again and saw Robin walk into his line of view, approaching Raven. He, too, saw her meditating and stood for a moment watching her as if torn between saying something and taking his leave.

"Staying or leaving, Robin?" she asked without breaking her pose. "The lurking is distracting."

Robin let out a small laugh and ran his hand nervously through his hair.

"I just wanted to check on you," he said, stepping up to stand beside her as he overlooked the city as well. "More than a week on the road chasing leads is never easy for you, cooped up with everyone. And then that last fight, your leg . . . I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

_Well that explains their absence,_ Red X thought to himself, feeling a relief at knowing she hadn't been avoiding him intentionally and hadn't been simply ignoring his acts of trying to get her attention.

She stopped levitating and sat beside him, pulling her knees up under her chin.

"Thank you, Robin, but I'm fine. Nothing a couple of days of sleep won't cure, and some healing once I've recovered some energy." She smirked through her weariness and looked up at him. He smiled down at her in response and nodded.

"I'll try to keep Beast Boy out of your hair, if that would help."

"Gods, _please_," she sighed as she let out a short, dry laugh.

Red X was balling his hands in fists as he watched how effortless and comfortable their exchange was. There was nothing getting in the way between them, since they were both on the right side of the law and spent so much time with one another, and he found himself surprisingly jealous of their obvious closeness.

Robin sat beside her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. He leaned his head against hers and sighed.

"To be honest I had been more than half afraid that we'd have to deal with Red X as soon as we got home," Robin confessed. "I've heard he's been particularly active while we were gone."

Raven lifted her head and looked at him quizzically.

"He has?"

Robin kept his gaze on the city. "According to the reports, yes. He's been pulling jobs all over the city. I have to say that as much as I want him caught I'm selfishly glad that we missed his last caper by more than a few hours."

He finally turned to her and brushed an errant strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"He's been messing with you a lot lately and doing something to your emotions. I'm just glad that he wasn't here to make things harder for you today. Whatever he's been saying to you, whatever he's done that you don't want to talk about . . . I _will_ stop it, okay? I will make this stop for you."

They stared at each other for some time without words and Red X's fury only grew. He felt a possessiveness rise up in him at the obvious connection those two had with each other and he balled his fists at his side.

"Sorry," Robin sighed, turning back to the view of the city once more. "I shouldn't have brought him up at all, not after you've been so taxed from this last mission. I'm sorry I interrupted your meditation."

"Weirdly, even this short meditation has been helpful," she continued, her brow furrowing in confusion as if just realizing something. "Just getting up on this roof was . . . calming, somehow. Maybe it was just the time alone. Or maybe just being home."

She _did_ already look like some of the weariness had melted from her. Red X wondered if it was, indeed, the short meditation or if she, like him, was somehow comforted by their shared presence. Even if she was unaware of it. Some of his rage ebbed at the thought that she might feel something from him that she did not get with Robin.

"I'll leave you to it, then," he said, rising from his seat and turning to go, trailing his fingertips along her shoulder in a familiar gesture as he went. "Thank you," he said over his shoulder after taking a few steps. "I couldn't have done this mission without you, Raven."

She nodded and he turned back to walk to the door. She watched him as he went, her face pained and longing. Red X felt his blood grow cold as the realization hit him: She was in love with Robin.

She eventually shook her head and looked down at the rooftop before turning around and crossing her legs once more. Red X watched Robin go, determined to show himself to Raven once he had, but Robin hesitated at the door to the stairs leading down into the tower. He looked back at Raven and Red X saw a look cross his face before he descended the stairs, the door closing behind him.

_Revelations all over the place tonight_, he thought, his blood going from cold to boiling.

He stepped out from the shadow of the shed and walked through the moonlight to approach her, not being able to keep away from her any longer. He was mere paces from her before she sprang up and turned to face him. He stopped in his tracks, holding his hands up in front of him and hoping that she wouldn't attack him outright or alert the others.

"Hey, Little Bird," he soothed. "I'm not here for trouble. I just . . . I had to see you." He surprised himself with his honesty and silently cursed himself for it. "I . . ." he sighed, lost for any semblance of eloquence. "I _had_ to see you."

She stood staring at him for a moment before he saw the tension release from her body.

"Thank the gods," she breathed as she ran to him, treading lightly on her injured leg, and threw her arms around him. He returned her embrace, sighing in relief and surprise, and simply held her for several minutes. He could feel her relax slowly in his arms and he smiled behind his mask at this unexpected reaction to his appearance. He laid his head on hers and he could smell her hair through his mask, like earl gray tea and lavender.

"Are you okay, Little Bird?" he asked, finally breaking the silence. "You don't look like you're having a great time with that leg."

"It's nothing," she said, her face still buried in his chest. "A hazard of the job. It'll heal once I get my energy back."

"Should I leave?" he asked. She looked at him, surprised by his selfless offer. "If you need time to recover . . ."

She shook her head and laid it back on his chest.

"No," she whispered. "No, please stay." Something in Red X's chest swelled at her plea. He tightened his embrace and laid his head back on hers. "I don't know why you're here but I am so glad. Despite the war with my emotions I . . . I sleep better on nights after we meet. I am . . . calmer, like I have more control of my powers even though I am less in control of my emotions. I don't know why this is happening, and I don't know why you're back now or why you keep coming back, but I _am_ grateful."

"I've been losing my mind without you here, Little Bird," he confessed. "Heists pulled strictly for your benefit and you weren't there. I . . . do better when you're around too." He gave a small laugh. "I've grown accustomed to your face, Sunshine."

She barked out a small laugh into his chest in response."Seriously? We're doing cheesy song lyrics now, X? I didn't know you had it in you."

He laughed with her. "You bring out surprising sides of me, Little Bird. And apparently bring something to my being that I can't describe. Peace? I don't know, Little Bird. But I _do_ know that I used to have the most terrible nightmares until that night that I kissed you and that these last two weeks without you have seen their return. It's like I'm going through withdrawals and it's just as painful."

He stroked her hair and held her close. "You're scaring me, Sunshine. I assumed, at first, that we were just giving in to some kind of suppressed carnal desire, but I don't think either of us can deny now that there's something else to this. I don't _do_ attached. But here I am, sneaking into the last place in the world I should think about sneaking, and I get a sense of relief just _seeing_ you. I've heard you called a witch before, but I don't think I ever agreed with it more until now. How else do you explain what I can only call bewitchment?"

She pulled back and looked into his masked face.

"How long have you been up here?" she asked, her brow furrowing in thought.

"Since, seriously, just seconds before you," he said, brushing hair from her face, jealousy from when Robin had done the same thing fading from him as he stood with her.

She looked at the floor and hummed thoughtfully.

"What is it, Little Bird?"

"I was _exhausted_ when I stepped onto this rooftop. I only had a few minutes to meditate before Robin came up here . . ."

She paused and looked back up at Red X, surprise in her expression until the mischievous ghost of a smile crossed her face.

"What?" he asked.

"I mean, congratulations on not attacking or at least antagonizing him, X. Staying hidden must have been absolute torture for you."

He laughed at that and drew her to him again.

"Like I said, you bring out surprising sides of me."

"Apparently that's true of me as well. I feel so much better than I did before I stepped out on this roof. And I can . . . _feel_ something when you're around me. I have this weird mental psychic bond with Robin – which is a long story that I will explain later – and this . . . this feels weirdly similar. But . . . completely different. Our time apart has only emphasized for me that this was more than something physical but as to what it is . . . I don't have an explanation for that. I mean . . . part of me has fought this since the beginning, yet we keep getting pulled together, despite my intentions. And I don't know what to do with that."

"I don't know, Little Bird. I had a thought for a long minute that this might be some kind of Titans plan to coerce me to your side," he joked.

She turned serious and pulled her head off his chest to look in dead on to convey her conviction.

"If there's one thing you can be sure of, X, it's that messing with people's minds, with their free will, is at the top of the unforgivable sins list with me. That will never have to be something you fear from me."

He stroked her face and saw her expression soften.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Little Bird. It was just a poor joke. I didn't think about your father, the destiny he tried to impose on you."

She nodded and lay her head back onto his chest. "I just wanted you to know that whatever this is it is _not_ something that I created. I can't explain it any more than you can, but whatever this is seems real for us both. So what do we do with it now? What does it mean?"

She looked up at him again as she felt him move and saw him working off the bottom portion of his mask once more. Her pulse quickened at what she knew was coming and whatever part of her was still in utter confusion about what any of this meant was silenced by the part that knew what simultaneous passion and peace would soon be found with him.

"I means," he said, lifting her chin with his finger, "that whatever this is has been beneficial to us both. It means that we let whatever this is _be_ what it is." He kissed her, torturously slow and deep, relishing in the feelings she elicited in him before he broke the kiss. "And we figure out the rest later."

She stood on her toes and crashed her lips back on his and he chuckled against them as he grabbed her thighs and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled herself against him and he felt a spark come to life inside him. _This_ was how it was supposed to feel. _This_ was how it was supposed to be. He had never been one to believe in fate or soulmates or anything as unbelievably cliche as that but the way they felt so right to each other seemed to scream that he had been wrong.

He felt her soul self wrap around them. He had thought it would be cold – Dr. Light had always talked about how cold it was – but it felt warm and comforting as it surrounded him and then dropped away. It was dark where they reappeared and the hyper vigilance inside of him from years of thieving convinced him to pry his lips away from hers and take in his surroundings, finding himself no longer on the roof but in a darkly furnished room with a large four poster canopied bed and shelves full of books.

Raven grabbed his chin and tuned his face back to hers.

"Just so you know," she whispered, ghosting her lips over his, "very few people have been allowed in my room."

"Practically inviting a rake into your bed, Little Bird? How very irresponsible of you."

"You should be greatly honored. Few have been allowed in my room . . . fewer still to my bed."

He flicked a hand at the clasp of her cloak, undoing it and pulling the fabric from her shoulder before tossing it aside. He strode over to her bed and deposited her on it, needing no more invitation than that. He followed her into the soft bedding. He stroked her face with the backs of his fingers. "You sure you want to invite _me_, Little Bird?"

"I thought you said to let whatever this is _be_ what it is. Unless you're having a change of heart. You can always just leave and save me my dignity."

"Well that doesn't sound anything like me," he laughed darkly as he kissed her again, sliding his knee between her legs and tangling his fingers in her dark hair.

She felt his hand slip between her back and the bedspread followed by the sound of the zipper of her leotard being pulled down. He traced his fingers up her spine and she shivered at the contact. She shimmied her arms out of the leotard as Red X pulled it down her torso, baring her breasts to him now only contained by a simple black bra. He drank in the sight of her and she heard the low rumble of satisfaction in the back of his throat that told her that he liked what he saw.

He traced a finger down her throat, through the hollow between her collarbones and down to the valley of flesh that currently occupied his attention. He cupped her left breast in his hand and slid his thumb up under the fabric. She moaned as it slid across her firming nipple and he leaned down to steal another kiss, wanting to taste the noises that he brought out from her. He drew slow circles around and over her nipple with his thumb and her back was beginning to arch, pressing her body tantalizingly against his. She could feel his need for her as her body crushed against his and the desire pooling at her center reacted to it viscerally.

She wasn't sure how far she was willing to let this go, or how far they _could_ go if he still wanted to keep his identity secret, but the decision was made for her as the alarms started sounding and flashing though the tower.

Red X jolted up, looking around.

"Relax," she said, sensing the reason for his panic. "It's not you, it's not the proximity alarm. Crime alert. I have to go."

He groaned and leaned back into her, kissing her soundly again. "Do you have to go _right_ now?"

The banging on the door answered him as Robin's voice came through from the hall.

"Raven! I know you're still exhausted but we have to go! It's Slade."

Red X rolled off her and thudded his head back on the pillow. "Fuck that kid. Boy Blunder always seems to be getting in my way."

She got out of the bed and looked down at him, a small smile turning up just the corner of her mouth. "Help me with this?"

She slid her arms back into her leotard and then bared her back to him, her zipper still undone. He traced up her spine again, but this time with the tip of his tongue, as he zipped her back up. She shuddered at his touch before turning to face him.

"Until next time? I'll assume you can find your way out. Please don't do anything stupid."

Red X rose from the bed, and laughed.

"That doesn't sound anything like me either."

She laughed with him as he turned toward the window for a moment before pausing and turning back.

"Stay safe," he said, his voice becoming serious.

She looked at him and nodded. He sighed as he replaced his mask and gave her his cocky salute before pushing the glowing button on his belt and vanishing.

It wasn't until she donned her cloak and pulled up the hood, ready to head out, that she realized that nothing had broken. She had given in to what she felt and nothing in her room or on the roof had broken. She didn't have time to puzzle over it now, but she was going to have a lot to figure out when she got back.

O • O • O • O

Raven could hear Robin shout her name in a panic. She turned to look behind her and managed to catch a glimpse of Slade's two toned mask. She tried to dodge away from him, but her bad leg – which hadn't had a chance to heal yet – buckled under her. She heard Slade chuckle in a sinister manner before she felt the impact against the side of her head that exploded her vision before everything went completely dark.

Robin screamed out her name again as he watched the ruthless blow and saw the red spray of her blood mist the air. He saw her fall from the rooftop and down toward the street. He knocked aside the slade-bot that he had been fighting and ran toward her, shooting his grappling gun at the nearest building, but knowing that there was no way he would be able to reach her in time. Slade stood at the building's edge watching the dark Titan fall and ready to see what it would do to his former apprentice when he watched her body hit the ground several stories below. Maybe it would be the thing to finally break Robin. He was intrigued to find out.

But before her body could impact the ground a blur shot through the sky and knocked her sideways mid air before vanishing and reappearing several blocks away, just above the ground and skidding across the pavement from the momentum of the fall before coming to a stop. Robin stopped in his tracks and Slade straightened in surprise when they recognized Red X crouched in the settling dust with Raven in his arms. Robin's eyes narrowed and he looked between Red X and Slade, trying to figure out whether he should get to Raven or take out his nemesis. He was torn, but he saw Red X lay Raven on the ground and stroke the hair out of her face, seemingly whispering something in her ear. Robin was running toward her before he realized he had made a decision.

Red X gripped Raven's shoulders and shook her gently, but her eyes remained resolutely shut.

"Raven! Fuck, Raven you've got to wake up! Raven!"

He could see the blood pooling on the concrete beneath her and he swore, holding pressure to the side of her head where Slade had struck her.

"Shit. Raven, don't do this. Please. You have to stay with me. Fucking stay with me!"

He could hear rapid footsteps approaching and looked up to see Robin racing toward him. He swore again.

"Raven! Fuck! Raven, I have to go. I can't let them take me. But your friends are coming, Little Bird. You're safe. I wish I could stay. Just . . . please . . . please be okay. You have to be okay. You _have_ to be."

He stroked her hair back again – more torn at the thought of leaving her than he had anticipated being – but straightened and teleported away when he saw Robin mere steps from him. He knew Robin would take care of her, but a knot in the pit of his stomach refused to loosen. He couldn't believe he'd left her.

Robin slid on the gravel scattered across the pavement and knelt at Raven's side. He could see the puddle of blood growing around her head and he ripped off his cape, using it to put pressure on her wound. He pulled out his communicator and called for the others, letting them know that Raven was down and she wasn't healing fast enough. His mind raced with his options but with Cyborg reporting back that Starfire was unconscious and Beast Boy approaching Robin cradling his clearly broken arm he came to the chilling realization that none of those options got her to the tower's med bay or the hospital in time. He started to panic. The alternative wasn't conceivable. He would _not_ entertain the possibility. But cold dread bloomed in his heart regardless.

He felt a rush of air beside him and Red X was standing there, a button on his belt flashing. Robin had made that belt and he knew Red X was running low on teleportations. Before he could get a word out at the thief, Red X spoke.

"I can get her to help," he said, standing in a defensive stance in case Robin made a move against him. Raven's blood was dripping from his hands from when he'd tried to staunch her bleeding. "I can help her. Let me help her."

Robin stared at him hard. He didn't trust Red X in the least – even less so since the night he had kissed Raven, and progressively less with each encounter they'd had with him since then – but he could feel Raven's warm blood soaking through his cape and dripping down his gloved hand. He was sure the dripping sound of her blood falling from his gloves to the pavement would haunt his nightmares. Whatever animosity he had toward the thief he couldn't let Raven suffer for it. He nodded a single, curt nod.

"Tower or hospital?" Red X asked, bending down and scooping Raven into his arms bridal style.

Robin thought for a moment.

"Hospital," he said finally. "She'll have a better chance there. More equipment. More experience. More hands."

Red X nodded and reached for his belt. Robin's hand clenched around Red X's wrist in an iron grip before he could push the button.

"If you try to pull anything and she gets hurt I will fucking kill you myself," he growled. He released Red X's arm and his eyes grew wide with understanding under his mask. As much as he mocked the hero Red X knew that he was a dangerous opponent and he could tell that Robin meant every word of his threat. A look of fear crossed his face and he was glad Robin couldn't see it. Robin stepped back and watched as Red X and Raven vanished. He pulled out his communicator again.

"Titans, get to the hospital. Raven needs us."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Raven's head was screaming. She was awake but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes; she just wanted the throbbing in her head to stop and she didn't think exposing her eyes to any kind of light was going to help. Her healing was correcting the internal damage from the wound on her head, she could feel it at work, but it didn't stop it from being painful. Her senses slowly returned to her and as they did her brow furrowed in annoyance.

What in the hells was that incessant beeping?!

But through the monotone beeps, hisses, and other strange noises another sound came to her attention. She tried to wrap her mind around it before her brain finally deciphered them as words. She locked in to the words, trying to make them make sense and as she focused the words came into clarity.

The voice beside her was surprising and her eyes finally flitted open and she stared at the skull caricature mask of Red X. He sat beside her bed in a chair pulled close to her and he was leaning against the arm of it, reading from a worn hardcover book held gently in his hands.

"'There she weaves by night and day, a magic web with colors gay. She has heard a whisper say, a curse is on her if she stay to look down to Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, and so she weaveth steadily -'"

"'And little other care hath she, the Lady of Shalott,'" Raven croaked out with a weary voice, finishing the line of the poem.

"Raven?"

He looked up to see her eyes open and focused on him. He dropped the book on the bed as he reached out to cup her face in his hand, letting out a relieved sigh. She looked around her and realized for the first time that she was in a hospital bed. The constant noises and beeps were coming from the monitors she was hooked to.

The realization didn't make the noise any less annoying.

"What . . . " she started, cradling her forehead in her palm.

"You – you were bleeding out," he said, softly. Raven looked at him as she realized he had turned off the voice synthesizer on his mask. She could hear the relief and concern in his voice. "Slade had hit you with something. He hit you . . . _so_ hard and you were falling off the building. I caught you, I got you to the ground, but . . . you were bleeding out."

"You brought me here?" she asked, sitting up and wincing. She leaned back against the headboard. "You're an idiot. You need to go before the others find you here. They'll look for me."

"They already know you're here," he said. "Robin was coming toward us after I caught you and you weren't moving. I – I panicked. I teleported away – I knew Robin would look after you – but . . . I couldn't leave you like that. I couldn't chance that they wouldn't be able to get you to help in time. I came back and told Robin I could get you to help. He told me to bring you here. I got you to the E.R. and I left before the other Titans arrived. I'm not as stupid as you might think."

She smiled a small smile, trying to ease some of the nerves he was showing in his stuttering speech. "Why are you here, then?" She looked to the book that he had abandoned on the bed beside her. "And don't tell me it was to read me Tennyson." She reached out to cup his masked cheek for a moment. "Don't get me wrong, X, I genuinely appreciate the gesture, but there's more to it than that."

He looked down at the book before lifting his head to her again. She was unnerved by this Red X who lacked his usual bravado and overconfidence. She had seen a surprising side of him on the roof of the tower, but this was different.

He was shaken and she had _never_ seen him shaken.

"I had to see if you were okay. I couldn't stay away without knowing you were going to be okay. I brought you here and . . . it was worse than I thought. You weren't just bleeding out, your . . . your skull was shattered and your brain was swelling. They took you into surgery and they wouldn't tell me anything. Then you were healing so fast _afterward_ they didn't know what to do about it. You were _dying_ when you got here and then you were finally healing and meta human healing is _not_ something they're familiar with. I had to come and see you for myself, with my own eyes. I had to know you were okay."

She stared at him for several long moments, trying to assess this side of Red X, this part of him that was the same vulnerable side she had seen on the roof of the tower. She laid a hand on his gloved one laying on her bed.

"Thank you," she said genuinely. "I know what you risked to do this; to get me here and then to check on me. You didn't have to."

"Yes I did," he said in uncharacteristic seriousness. "I could have lost you . . ."

He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He cleared his throat.

"Can't lose my new prize now can I? I always get my mark," he said, the cockiness in his voice returning.

Raven could see through it now.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, changing the subject to save his ego.

"Almost twenty-four hours. It just got dark again."

"A whole day . . ." she trailed off. "It must have been bad. I almost never take that long."

He looked down at his lap. Although she couldn't see his face behind the mask she could tell that it had been frightening for him. He cared. Between their conversation the night before and everything that had transpired since, he was showing that he cared. This thing between them was growing stronger and she could see that they were going to get swallowed by it. And she was surprised that she didn't think that was a bad thing.

They started talking. Mostly Raven started a casual conversation to take his mind off of the trauma of the previous day. They started with Tennyson, Raven showing surprise that he was a fan and how he was a personal favorite of hers. He had laughed and mentioned that once upon a time he had had a very expensive education, though he refused to go further into detail than that. He had told her to keep the book. Something to remember him by when they were apart.

Their conversation moved through a variety of subjects from there. They talked about the task that had taken the Titans away for over a week, about the bond with Robin she had mentioned earlier and how all of that had come to pass, eventually even about the thing that was growing between them. Although they still couldn't make out what that might be and had given up on defining it. Some things didn't need explanation.

After a time Raven realized that her headache had dissipated and she pulled away the loose wrapping they had left on her head and found the skin beneath unbroken, and the bone beneath that whole and solid. Red X was relieved when she told him and the last of his tension seemed to finally leave his body.

They talked through most of the night, which was strange for her. Until the roof of the tower the night before the most they'd ever said to each other before were exchanged insults and sexually tense banter. They slipped into a companionable conversation that neither one of them had expected.

She found that, in addition to the weird comfort they had around each other, she actually _liked_ him. If she had met him on the street and they had started talking, she would have genuinely enjoyed his company and that settled another level of rightness over what they had. Another layer of them that fit and made sense. She looked at him hours later after glancing at the clock and scoffed.

"Gods, you really are an idiot," she said.

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"We've been talking for hours," she explained. "My friends are bound to come check on me soon."

Red X chuckled. "The visiting hours haven't started yet, Little Bird, and they are strictly enforced. You should have seen Robin's face when they told him that he had to leave until visiting hours tomorrow."

"Didn't stop you," she pointed out.

"I'm a rogue," he pointed out while winking at her, "as well as a rake, and I earned that title by being a charming one. And I'll not leave my prize so easily."

She smirked at him, before lowering her eyes to the book in her hands as they rested on her lap. She had to admit, whatever his intentions were it was nice having his attention, both in the intense physical way of their past encounters and this unusual comfortable companionship she felt with him now. She had been pining for Robin – and then trying to get over those feelings – for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to be wanted in return.

"Good thing for you that Robin's following the rules then," she stated. "He'll kill you if he sees you. He's never forgiven you for stealing the suit."

"Stolen more than that, now," he muttered under his breath, remembering the look that had crossed Robin's face looking at her on the roof, and the blatant threat that he had made when Raven's life was at stake.

"What?" Raven asked, turning to him, not having caught what he said.

"Nothing, Little Bird," he dismissed, waving his hand. He couldn't bring himself to tell her what he now knew. She was still in love with Robin and he couldn't chance ruining what was happening between them with the knowledge that her leader might feel the way for her that she felt for him. It was selfish, yes, but they also weren't his feelings to tell. If Robin missed his chance then that would be _his_ problem and his alone. Red X certainly wasn't about to do him any favors.

"And don't worry about my death at the hands of the Boy Blunder quite yet," he continued nonchalantly. "He won't be back until visiting hours start. The nurses don't like him and I still find it _highly_ amusing."

"What do you mean they don't like him?"

"I mean after antagonizing the nurses like a fucking mother hen he went outside to take a breather. I came in and told them all that he's a jilted ex with a temper but that he _does_ honesty care for you and that they shouldn't hold it against him."

She looked at him in disbelief.

"You did _not_."

He chucked again at her aghast expression. "Oh I did. And _then_ he went and threw a fit about being asked to leave and to respect visiting hours. I think one of those nurses had an ex like him and she wasn't particularly kind. He didn't respond well. You can see why their opinion of him isn't very high. Why do you think they haven't come in to check on you and kick me out yet? I'm a very convincing liar."

"Wait," she said, dread growing in her. "What did you tell them to convince them to let _you_ stay?"

He smiled at her in a way that could only be described as wicked, Raven could sense that even through his mask.

"I told them you were my fiancée."

"Excuse me?!" she choked out. "And they _believed_ you?! They just let _Red X_ walk in here and claim to be my fiancée and they just _believed_ you?"

"Charming, remember? And I didn't come in here as Red X. I walked in here as myself, I put the suit on after they promised some privacy and peace for the night because I can't very well put you in the position of knowing my identity and having to decide what to do with that knowledge, now can I? The staff was quite taken with the thought of us together, actually. Said we made a beautiful couple. I told them that your abilities were unstable and that a familiar face would help spare their equipment from your powers lashing out and they agreed to give us some privacy as long as your vitals didn't spike."

Raven cradled her head in her hands.

"Have you _ever_ considered the ramifications of what would happen if hospital security footage caught what you looked like? What if someone were to come in and see you now in the suit and connect the dots?! What if Robin finds out and checks the tapes?!"

"Please," he said flippantly, momentarily reverting to the part of the Red X persona that made her want to punch him in the face. "I made sure there was a camera malfunction. Although I'm flattered that you care about keeping my secret identity, Little Bird."

"But the staff has _seen_ you, you idiot! They could describe you to Robin. He _is_ the boy genius detective you know." She looked up at him and smacked him in the shoulder. "I thought you were just an idiot but now I think you might actually be mad. You risked _everything_ coming here like this."

He shifted from his seat and sat on the bed beside her, leaning over her in a menacing manner.

"Maybe I don't care."

"Robin will kill you if he figures out who you are. Best case scenario you're in jail for a long time."

He leaned in closer.

"Maybe I don't care," he growled. He hovered by her ear before whispering, "Maybe the prize is worth the risk."

The familiar and far from unpleasant shudder that came so often when she was close to him trembled down her spine. Her eyes darted to all the complex and expensive equipment in the room that her emotions could destroy. This could be a costly rendezvous. But she then remembered that nothing had broken the last time at the tower. She still hadn't had the time to sort that part out yet.

She could feel his masked face brush against the side of hers as he nuzzled her.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered in her ear.

She thought. She thought back to their recent encounters and back to the encounters before that as well. She couldn't find an instant where he had actually tried to hurt her. Subdue her and her friends, sure, but he had never tried to _hurt_ her. And their more recent times together were . . . intimate, close, and comforting. The night before he had confessed to feeling the same closeness that she had felt and he had been so tender, so vulnerable.

And he had saved her not long after. He had no reason to do so, he didn't even have to reveal that he was there. He was in the clear, but he had saved her anyway. And when he had done so and managed to get away he had returned to save her again. And then he had risked exposure coming to her tonight. Those were three instances all in the same day that showed he had no reason or will to hurt her. It seemed quite the opposite.

She _did_ trust him. She nodded.

"Close your eyes," he whispered. She complied.

She could feel him pull away from her, but he remained seated on the bed beside her hip. She heard a rustling of fabric and just when she was about to question what he was doing she felt his breath against her ear again.

"I trust you, too, Little Bird."

Then his lips were on hers, forceful and hungry. She responded in kind with her own fervor and need. She slid her hand up the back of his head to pull his face closer to hers and she felt his soft hair between her fingers. Something she could only feel if he had taken off his mask. Completely. She gasped and he immediately shifted and feathered his lips over her ear.

"Keep them closed, Little Bird. I'm trusting you."

She tightened her grip on his hair in her fingers and pulled his lips back to her, deepening the kiss when she realized that, again like the night before on the rooftop and then in her room, nothing in the room was exploding or breaking. Something about how he felt with her that moment was comfortable and right and soothing. Something about him was keeping her emotions in check and balancing the chaos that usually roiled within her. And it was so liberating – such a relief that she had never felt before – that she pulled him closer, deeper. She felt her head hit the pillow as he pushed her down and lay partially beside her and partially atop her, his hands roaming up and down her body, the beeping from the monitors increasing in intensity as her heart rate rose.

She moaned at the heat of his touch and still, nothing broke around them and she wanted nothing more than to lose herself in him. She had never had the luxury of letting go like this and it was an intoxicating experience that she relished and was loathe to give up. If _this_ is what this was like for normal people then they were taking what they had for granted.

He pulled away with a sigh that turned into a groan as his head dropped on the pillow next her her. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she heard Robin's raised voice from the nurse's desk.

"You kept me up all night," she admonished jokingly, laughing into his hair, her eyes still closed. He let out a laugh into her pillow before rising to lay light kisses all over her face. He rested his forehead on hers and sighed again.

"Next time I keep you up all night it'll be worth it, I promise you that."

"Go," she whispered against his lips. "Take your stolen kisses before you get caught."

She felt his breath on her ear before he whispered, "Kisses are only the start, Little Bird. Just wait until you see what I steal next."

She felt his warmth leave her and she almost whined at his absence. She was starting to wonder just how deep she was getting into this and starting to get concerned at how attached she was already feeling. She felt him stroke her hair before she felt the slight rush of wind that indicated his teleportation.

She opened her eyes and found herself alone. She sighed and looked around the room. Everything was in its place and unbroken. This was unfamiliar territory and she didn't know what to make of it yet. She reached for the book that he had left for her, but as her fingers grazed the fabric cover they encountered something different. She touched the soft petals of the purple calla lily that lay there atop the book. It was beautiful and rested on a square of paper with a red X scrawled on it. She stared at it, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

_How did he know?_ she wondered. _They aren't a common flower here in Jump; but how did he even know?_

She grabbed the square of paper and flipped it over. In a sharp, even script was written:

**A proper thief researches his prize. I know they're your favorite.**

**A rare find in this messed up city, just like you. -X**

A smile came to her face as she tucked the paper in the book and slid both under her pillow and away from prying eyes. Likewise she took the lily and laid it gently under the covers by her pillow. The door to her room opened not a minute later.

Robin entered, saw her awake, and relief washed over his face. He strode quickly to her side held her shoulders so he could look at her.

"Raven," he sighed. "Are you okay? I've been just . . . pacing downstairs all night. You were out for so long, the whole day."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I woke up early last night."

He looked down before meeting her eyes again. "And you woke up alone. I'm so sorry, these . . . nurses for some reason do _not_ like me."

Raven snorted a laugh, before covering it with a cough and hoping Robin didn't catch the slight as she remembered what Red X had said about his conversations with the nurses.

"No?" she finally choked out. "What happened?"

Robin poured her a cup of water from the pitcher on the side table, hoping to ease her cough. She took the proffered cup and took a sip.

"I don't know why they have something against me," he started, "I _know_ what a pain I was all day I just . . . I had never seen you like that, unable to heal quickly enough. I think the last time that was close was that time with Adonis and Beast Boy. I had to go take a breather toward the evening but . . ."

"But?" she asked, taking another sip to hide her smirk.

"But I got back and they were just . . . dismissive, I guess. One of them in particular. I don't know what happened but suddenly it was all about protocol and visiting hours and privileges how only family was allowed and such. It was just a weird shift, even though I was probably being an ass."

Raven coughed on her water and took a second to recover. Hearing Robin swear was rare, but all it did now was remind her of Red X. The two sides of her life were bleeding together and she didn't quite know what to do with that.

"That sounds about right," she joked, smirking.

"Ouch, Raven," he said in mock shock and hurt, his eyes, though, were smiling at her. "You're supposed to be my best friend."

"And what kind of best friend would I be if I just let an opportunity for a barb like that just pass by?"

Robin let out a laugh and she could feel the comfort of their bond hum in the back of her mind. He had been the closest she had to an emotional connection with someone . . . until Red X. Her emotions were free around the thief like with no one else, but there was still something about her connection with Robin that she couldn't deny.

"So what, exactly, happened?" she asked, playing the role of someone who hadn't already been filled in on the events during her unconsciousness by a self proclaimed rake who seemed strangely attached to her.

He explained the events from his perspective but it lined up with exactly what Red X had recounted to her. She listened and then nodded when his story was done.

"So when do I get to go home?" she asked, settling into her pillows. "I mean, my head's killing me but I can feel the healing and I suppose my consciousness is a good sign."

Robin laughed again. "Well the doctors certainly aren't used to having a meta human in their ward. Once you . . . once you were out of the worst of the surgery, they got some more blood in you, and stitched up your wound your healing finally started to catch up. Your wound closed and your skin popped out those stitches within the first couple of hours. I kept trying to tell them that you would be up and about soon but they insisted on keeping you here until you woke just in case. But I talked with them this morning and they're ready to release you later today after the last round of the latest tests come back, assuming you regained consciousness."

Raven blew out a deep breath and leaned her head back against the wall. "I guess I can wait the day."

"So, everyone else is waiting out there. They would only let us in here one at a time. But since you're out later today do you want me to let you have your peace? I can ask them to wait."

"You're going to try to tell Starfire that she can't come in here and see for herself that I'm breathing and awake?" she joked, hoping to lighten the mood for him. "You are the bravest person I know, Robin, but that might be suicidal."

He grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye, still solemn.

"I'm serious. You really scared me yesterday and if you had that much trouble healing it might be best for you to have some peace. But it's up to you. Do you want to see them or would you like to wait?"

She paused and thought about it for awhile.

"Would I be a terrible person if I took you up on your offer?"

He smiled at her, finally. "I wouldn't have offered if that were the case." He rose and leaned over her, surprising her by hugging her to him in a crushing embrace. He held her for awhile and she could feel him tremble, which scared her a little. He was always so steady. She could feel the anguish and relief through their bond.

"You really did scare me," he said into her hair as he rested his head on hers. "Our bond wavered, Raven." She felt him shudder at the memory. "It's never done that before. I hadn't realized how much I had grown accustomed to feeling it and having you there knowing how I feel. I've started to rely on it's strength and then it wavered and it started to feel weak. That . . . that scared me more than I can remember being scared in a long time. And I couldn't do anything. They told me how bad it was after I got here. Then – then they told me they were taking you to surgery. Raven, I've never felt more helpless."

He pulled away and held her at arms length, his expression holding more grief than she could remember seeing from him before.

"And I was angry, Raven. I was angry at Slade – I'm not sure what I would have done had we caught him, to be perfectly honest – I was angry at myself for being so damn useless, and I was angry at Red X for being the one to save you. Of all people, it had to be him."

Raven looked away for a moment before looking back to him.

"Not that I'm not grateful, Raven, I owe him . . . _everything_ for saving you. But _why_ did he save you? Why was he even there?"

"I don't know," she said truthfully. "I have no idea why he was there. I don't remember anything after the impact on the rooftop until I woke up here. His motives have always been . . . difficult to understand. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Maybe he did it just to piss off Slade. Maybe he took me to the hospital to piss _you_ off. Who knows with him?"

She felt so bad for lying to him. She tried her best to say things that she partially believed to be true, hoping the bond would accept them as truths and that Robin wouldn't suspect her of not telling him everything.

"He _has_ seemed weirdly fixated with you lately," he mused, darkly.

"Do you _remember_ your reaction the night that he kissed me?" she asked. "If he stuck around and saw that, then I'd say he knew he pushed a button. Anyway, I can't speak for his motives, but I _am_ grateful to him. I owe him my life."

Robin looked away as he stood up. He was still wrestling with his thoughts on the matter and he certainly didn't like the thought of Raven owing anything to the criminal who had vexed him so. He couldn't figure out his motives and that, for any detective, was infuriating.

"I should go," he said, attempting to reign in his anger. "The others will be worried."

"Yeah," she said lamely. "Thank you, Robin, for being such an ass to the staff. I'm sorry I worried you, but it's always nice to know someone cares."

He turned back to her and smiled. "I'll be here when they release you. Call me if you need anything."

He tossed her communicator to her, smiled, and nodded before leaving and closing the door behind him. She let out a big breath and leaned her head back on the wall in relief. She hadn't revealed anything about Red X. But she had no idea where her life was going now. She had just lied to her best friend to cover the mysterious motives of a thief. She was going to have to deal with the repercussions of trying to reconcile both sides of her life eventually and she had absolutely no idea how to do it.

She reached for her cup on the side table and her fingers found a small glass jar instead. She grabbed it and looked at it closely. It held what looked like loose leaf tea.

She pulled the cork from the bottle and inhaled the scent from within. Earl Grey. The cream blend that she liked from a very particular tea shop. It hadn't been there on the nightstand when Robin had entered, she was sure. She would have seen it when Robin had poured her that cup of water. _He_ had left it. He had left it for her.

She flopped down onto the pillows and locked her eyes on the ceiling, Robin's gesture and the mystery of how he even knew to get it for her laying another layer of confusion on her already overwhelmed brain. It was the last thing the thought of before sleep overtook her again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Robin approached the nurse's desk, telling himself to be as civil as possible and maybe they could all leave the hospital without any kind of verbal altercation with the staff. He cleared his throat to get the attention of the nurse behind the counter and she looked up at him, giving him an almost guilty smile.

"Morning," he started with a small smile, in his most personable tone, just as he would speak to someone in Bruce's manor when his mask was off. He could be quite charming then, and he tried to channel that now. "Is Raven set to be released?"

"Yes, the paperwork's all set," she said, seemingly relieved at his calm tone. She looked at the monitors for Raven's room and sighed, facing nothing but blank screens. "I forgot, she insisted on taking out her leads. She's . . . quite the strong personality. I'm honestly surprised she didn't discharge herself against medical counsel hours ago."

Robin laughed a genuine laugh and it put her even more at ease. "She stayed put for the sake of her friends, I think," he said. "Can I see her?"

"She was still sleeping last I saw, about an hour ago," she said as she rose from her chair. " But I'll go check on her."

She walked around the desk, pausing after tuning toward Raven's room. She turned back to Robin and shifted her weight nervously.

"Hey, I just want to say that I'm sorry for being so harsh with you yesterday," she said. "I've been in some bad relationships before with overbearing and overprotective men and when Raven's fiancee told us about you it clouded my judgment. I shouldn't have let it affect how I treated you. It wasn't my place."

"Wait," he said, holding up a hand to stop her. "What are you talking about? Her fiancee?!"

"Yes," she said, smiling. "the charming, handsome, dark haired man who came in just after you left. Have you never met him? He spoke of her so lovingly. He spent most of the night up with her last night. It was technically allowed since he's her closest family but we still shouldn't have treated you so coldly."

Robin was already rushing to Raven's room before the nurse had finished talking. He threw open the door and found her bed empty and her belongings that had been bagged up on her arrival at the ER gone.

"Where is she?!" he demanded, turning on the nurse who had followed him in.

"I-I don't know," she stammered. "She should be in here."

"What do you mean you don't know?! You just let some stranger spend the night in here with her based on nothing but his word and then you lose her?!"

He threw aside her sheets as if he'd find her hidden there but instead he uncovered a purple calla lily. He stared hard at it for several moments. It was her favorite, but no one else that he knew of could have known that.. He checked in the sheets and threw the pillows aside and finally found a book. Finding a book in a place where Raven had been was not something unusual, but he couldn't figure out when and where she would have been able to get it since waking. Tennyson. She was never very open about her love for less dark and macabre poetry, but he knew that she secretly treasured them.

He flipped through the pages and as he did the note that she had tucked within its pages fluttered out. On one side was an X written in red ink. He flipped the card over and read what was written on the other side. As he did, he was filled with both fear and fury. Red X had been here. The stranger had been Red X. He had been here most of the night, which meant that Raven had lied to him this morning. She said she had woken up in the early evening and she hadn't mentioned this man who had posed as her fiancee and who happened to be wanted for his crimes.

What had happened and why had she not told him? Had she been manipulated somehow, under duress the whole time that Robin was with her and he hadn't noticed? That thought chilled him the most.

And what had Red X meant by researching his prize?

He crumpled the paper in his hands as the nurse sped from the room to double check that Raven had not somehow been released earlier and it was simply a clerical error.

Robin stood in the empty room scared, angry, and unsure of what to do next. Based off of all the evidence it only made sense that the dark haired stranger and Red X were one and the same. He grew cold with dread. He pulled out his communicator and told the others what had transpired before setting Cyborg on the task of finding a way of tracking Raven and checking hospital security footage to see if they had an image of what Red X looked like without his suit. He picked up jar of tea that he had left for her, abandoned on the nightstand, and let out a desperate sigh. He hadn't even told her how he felt and now she was gone. He had to find her. And he had to bring Red X to justice.

O • O • O • O

Raven sighed and stretched, burrowing into the pillows. She had slept so well, which was surprising being that she was in a hospital bed. But she was so comfortable and the pillows were so soft. Her eyes flew open, however, when she realized this did _not_ feel like the hospital bed she had fallen asleep in. She sat up, looked around and found herself in a king sized bed with a beautiful carved headboard, surrounded by pillows and draped in a heavy duvet. The room was sparsely furnished, but furnished with taste and care. She was alone and confused but as she leaned back against the pillows she closed her eyes as she smelled a familiar scent of coffee and cedar. It calmed her panic and she now had an idea of how she had gotten here and where she was.

"X?" she called out, pulling the duvet up over chest. She was still in the hospital gown she had been in when she fell asleep and it left her feeling surprisingly vulnerable outside of the hospital.

The door opened almost immediately, like he had been waiting outside for to wake, and Red X stepped into the room and leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest. He had tried to predict what mood she would be in when she awoke, but there were too many possibilities with her. The one that he feared most was that she would just take off and not give him a chance to explain. He looked at her and waited for her to make her move. She drew her knees up, resting her elbows on them and holding her forehead in her hands, giving him a chastising look

"The fuck?" she asked, incredulously.

He lowered his head and let out a relieved laugh. She hadn't attacked him and she was still there, not making a move to get up and bolt for the door. At least he had a chance. He pushed himself away from the door frame and walked over to her. He couldn't help thinking that she looked good in his bed. He hoped it wasn't the last time he saw her there. He sat on the bed beside her.

"Seriously," she said, dropping her hands from her face. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Such a dirty mouth on you, Little Bird. You're bold for one who finds herself in the bed of a thief."

"A stupid, stupid thief," she quipped. "Stealing a person is generally called _kidnapping_, X. What time is it? You must have a death wish if Robin finds out you _took me from the hospital_."

"I had a good reason. I mean, apart from getting you into my bed, which would have been reason enough."

"I'd get to the point real fast, X, before I lose interest. Or should I just leave now?"

He took off his gloves, dropped them to the floor, and placed a hand on the bed by her hip and leaned over her, forcing her to recline back on the pillows.

"Is it so bad being in my bed, Little Bird? I happen to think it's quite comfortable. Or do I need to do something more to keep your interest?" He stroked her collarbone with his free, bare hand and she felt the electric spark of his touch, skin on skin, run through her body. She took in a shaky breath and her eyes fluttered closed as his hand traveled up to her shoulder, then her neck. He stroked the side of her neck with his thumb as his fingers threaded through her hair. She opened her eyes and he found himself drowning in their violet depths. He had wanted to be upfront and tell her why he had taken her as soon as she woke but now he was leaning over her and touching her soft flesh and he could smell her scent on his sheets and he couldn't remember anything other than how good her skin felt under his fingertips.

"Close your eyes," he rasped, pulling at the back of his mask.

She wanted to argue, to make him tell her why he brought her here, but the current running through her from his bare skin was making it hard to focus. She felt so alive but still nothing around them moved or shattered and she soon found she was powerless against the flood of emotion. She closed her eyes almost immediately.

His lips were bruising against hers as he crashed into her. She felt his weight settle on top of her and she buried her hands in his hair, pulling him tight against her. Just as she was powerless to fight against this draw to him he was equally unable to resist _her_. He kissed and licked his way down the column of her throat, feeling her pulse strong and fast against his lips. He pulled down the collar of her hospital gown and continued his path of kisses down her collarbone to the swell of her breasts. Her moans were driving him crazy and he hummed in response. He started to pull her gown down farther when a loud beeping tone sounded, making Raven sit up suddenly in a panic. Red X hurried and put his mask on before she could see his face, but her eyes were on the bag full of her stuff from the hospital.

"You brought my communicator?!" she gasped, throwing aside the covers as she scrambled from the bed.. "Gods how stupid-"

"I brought your stuff," he interrupted. "I brought your clothes and everything you had with you when I brought you to the hospital. I didn't know it was in there."

She ran to the bag on the dresser that held her personal items and started tearing through it.

"I put it in there after Robin gave it back to me at the hospital. They can track it, X! They'll find you. You have to go!" She found the communicator and wasted no time smashing it against the dresser.

Red X walked up to her. "Raven. Shit, Raven!"

He finally grabbed her hands to stop her frantic destruction of the communicator when she didn't respond to him. "Stop, Little Bird. I'm not as stupid as you think I am, remember? I had Jinx ward this place right after I bought it."

She looked at him in confusion.

"Also, side note, she does _not_ like being blackmailed. But this place is safe. They can't track anything through the wards and . . . you can't use your powers to travel through them either. I had to be sure my place was safe from the Titans. They can't track your communicator, Little Bird." He looked down at the broken bits and shards of her comm before scoffing. "I mean, they _definitely_ can't _now_. It's alright. We're okay."

She sighed in relief and slumped to the floor. He knelt down beside her and pulled her to him. "That's the second time you've been afraid that I'd get caught, Little Bird. Careful, or one might be tempted to think that you actually care about a humble thief."

"I fucking hate you," she half joked, still reeling from her panic. "And you are far from humble." She took several deep breaths to calm herself before speaking again.

"What did you bring me here for, X? It wasn't just to satisfy your urges. You said you had a good reason, so what is it? Why am I here?"

He sat back on his heels and looked at her.

"I need help with a job."

"No," she said sternly. "I'm no thief, X. Whatever _this_ is between us don't think for a second that you're bringing me into that part of your life. I'm still a Titan."

He stood and held out a hand to help her up. She hesitated for moment, giving him an admonishing look to remind him that she was standing firm in her conviction, before taking his proffered hand and letting him pull her easily to her feet.

"Believe me, the people we're taking from are the worst of this city," he said. "And this is something worth stealing. But only if you feel well enough. I won't put you in danger like that." He hadn't dropped her hand yet and he twined his fingers with hers. "Do you still trust me?"

She pulled her hand out of his and looked at him dejectedly.

"I want to say that I do, X, but you _did_ just kidnap me."

He hummed behind his mask and she could swear he was smirking again. He trailed a finger up her arm as he circled her, finally resting his hand on her shoulder from behind and stroking the side of her neck. He leaned over her other shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"You were worth stealing, too."

She shivered and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her into him, his strong chest pressing into her back.

"Give me this chance," he pleaded. "Believe it or not I'm actually on the better half of the law this time. If at any point you want out, then you're free to go, but I think you'll understand when you get there. If you want to kick my ass after then you are welcome . . . to try. Please, Raven."

She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. He only ever called her Raven when he was concerned . . . or when he wanted something. There was something in him that drew Raven. Like there was a perfect mix of darkness – which drew her as a kindred spirit – and a light, a goodness, to him that balanced the dark. It called to her. Maybe that's what balanced her powers so effectively. Whatever acts of thievery he had pulled in their past she couldn't deny the goodness that she saw and felt within him.

She nodded and felt him sigh in relief into the crook of her neck. His arms tightened around her, one around her waist and one around her shoulders. The hug was such a platonic gesture, but was somehow one of the most intimate ones they had shared. She turned in his arms to face him.

"This had better be worth all the trouble, X. I swear if this is just for a payday -"

"It's worth it, Little Bird, but it _has_ to be done tonight," he said with such conviction and steel in his voice that she stopped and simply nodded.

"So what's the plan?"

O • O • O • O

The building was unassuming on the outside, just an amalgamation of shops and hole in the wall restaurants, but Raven had spent enough time with Robin to know that appearances were deceiving in a city. Red X had told her that it was all a front for the gangsters' operations within. He had told her as much information as he had on this den or crime and the shady dealings they dealt in. Pretty usual stuff for a crime syndicate, but there had been rumors that they were getting into something more nefarious and a personal contact had convinced Red X that the rumors were true. Raven asked what these nefarious dealings might be. She had grown rigid and a fire lit behind her eyes when he told her it was rumors of human trafficking.

She had asked why they couldn't involve the Titans or at least the police, but Red X had made it clear that the syndicate had no problem in . . . disposing of their problem if they got wind that something was going on to endanger their plans. The police would have to follow protocol which could get people killed and even the Titans could bring too much attention to the situation before everyone could get out safely.

This job required the quiet and finesse of as few people as possible. With Raven's powers she could get the people out with the least amount of effort and notice. With her they could pull of this mission between the two of them and his handful of moles within the syndicate.

They had spent the rest of the day planning and pouring over maps, adjusting their plans as necessary. It was a strange experience, working so closely with him and having him fixated on the task at hand instead of on making moves on her. He was clever, intelligent, and had a sound tactical mind and Raven had found herself impressed. They parted ways at sunset, him pulling up his mask to kiss her before they did; a slow, gentle kiss unlike the ones they had shared before. He had teleported away before she say anything.

She now crouched in the alley, watching the building, and ran through the building's schematics in her head, remembering the details of the plan they had concocted. She waited for Red X's signal and when she saw the light flashing briefly from the downstairs window – where he told her the entrance parlor to the hidden, true nature of the syndicate was – she made her move.

She hoped his distraction would be as good as he planned it to be as she used her soul self to appear on the upper level balconies. She peered through the windows to ensure that the way was clear before entering the building. She pictured the map in her head, making the appropriate turns down the strangely labyrinthine hallways. This was certainly no normal set of apartments above the supposed simple shops downstairs. It seemed at least that part of Red X's story had been true so far. Something was not as it seemed up here.

A sneeze alerted her to someone's presence around a corner and she pulled herself into the shadows, her heart racing at coming so close to getting caught. The man walked around the corner and took a turn down another hall before she let out a relieved breath. She was almost where Red X's contact had said they'd find what they had come for. One more turn and she'd be where she needed to be.

She could feel the presence of the two men in the hall standing guard over the door that was her target. She used her powers to bind their consciousness, holding them in a semi sleep state as she turned the corner and walked to stand before them. She held them in a mental limbo, them neither being able to see or hear, as if sleeping, while still being conscious enough that they would think nothing amiss when she released them. She dropped them back in their seats and turned to the room that was her target, holding on to their bindings in the back of her mind. She closed her eyes when she stood outside the door and sent out her senses to make sure no one else was around to ambush her once she was inside. She felt no other guards nearby, but sensed several fearful people within the room. She found the door locked and had to rifle through the pockets of the guards before she found a ring of keys. Third try was the charm as she felt the mechanism click. She could hear fearful whimpering within at the sound of the lock disengaging and she braced herself for what she might find.

She opened the door and blinked to adjust to the darkness of the dimly lit room. She heard gasps and cries of fear and she blinked until her eyes adjusted to the dark.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes met her gaze. All of them children.


End file.
